PKOCEEDINGrS 



OF THE 



ROYAL PHYSICAL SOCIETY. 



NINETY-THIRD SESSION, 1863-64. 



Wednesday, 25th November 1863. — James MBain, M.D., R.N., 

 President, in the Chair. 



The following Gentlemen were elected Members of the Society : — 



As Resident Member — B. H. Hossack, Esq., Star Bank, Trinity. As 

 Non-Resident Members — George Lyle Galbraith, Esq., Loch Tummel 

 Lodge, Pitlochrie ; George Fair, M.D., Woodlands, Duddingston ; 

 Herbert Manson Suft, Esq., H.M. Privy Council Office, Whitehall. 



The following Donations to the Library were laid on the Table, and 

 thanks were voted to the Donors: — 



1. (1.) Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1861, 8vo. 

 From the Smithsonian Institution, U.S.A. (2.) Report of Lieutenant- 

 Colonel J. D. Graham, U.S. Topographical Engineers, on Mason and 

 Dickson's Line. — From the Author. 2. Proceedings of the Royal 

 Society, Vol. XII., Nos. 55 and 56, 1863.— From the Society. 

 3. Extracts from Twelfth Volume of Astronomical Observations, 1855- 

 59. — From the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. 



Dr M'Bain then delivered the following Opening Address : — 



Gentlemen, — Before laying aside the honour you have 

 been pleased to confer upon me, it falls to my lot, as retiring 

 President, to offer a brief address on the occasion. 



In the first place, I have to congratulate the members 

 upon the satisfactory state of the Society in regard to the 

 more essential elements of present stability and future 

 progress — namely, a goodly array of scientific contributors, 

 the constant accession of new members, and a respectable 

 balance at the command of the Treasurer. The number of con- 

 tributions brought forward during last Session on the various 



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